{"id":229167,"date":"2025-06-04T02:53:36","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T16:53:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?guid=ca2c7496cd4522cbe0680006fb480489"},"modified":"2025-06-04T02:53:36","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T16:53:36","slug":"nasa-kennedy-digs-latest-robot-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=229167","title":{"rendered":"NASA Kennedy Digs Latest Robot Test"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Image<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

NASA\u2019s RASSOR (Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot) undergoes testing to extract simulated regolith, or the loose, fragmental material on the Moon\u2019s surface, inside of the Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations Lab at the agency\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 27. Ben Burdess, mechanical engineer at NASA Kennedy, observes RASSOR\u2019s counterrotating drums digging up the lunar dust and creating a three-foot berm.<\/p>\n

The opposing motion of the drums helps RASSOR grip the surface in low-gravity environments like the Moon or Mars. With this unique capability, RASSOR can traverse the rough surface to dig, load, haul, and dump regolith that could later be broken down into hydrogen, oxygen, or water, resources critical for sustaining human presence.<\/p>\n

The primary objective was testing the bucket drums that will be used on NASA\u2019s IPEx (In-Situ Resource Utilization Pilot Excavator). The RASSOR robot represents an earlier generation technology that informed the development of IPEx<\/a>, serving as a precursor and foundational platform for the advanced excavation systems and autonomous capabilities now being demonstrated by this Moon-mining robot.<\/p>\n

Image credit: NASA\/Frank Michaux<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NASA\u2019s RASSOR (Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot) undergoes testing to extract simulated regolith, or the loose, fragmental material on the Moon\u2019s surface, inside of the Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations Lab at the agency\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 27. Ben Burdess, mechanical engineer at NASA Kennedy, observes RASSOR\u2019s counterrotating drums digging [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15942,15717,15598,15624],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-229167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-changing-development-program","category-kennedy-space-center","category-science-mission-directorate","category-space-technology-mission-directorate"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t